Last Night
by cosmictrap
Summary: Secret Santa Fic: Set in 'Injured', the gang is on the beach. Nick admits to wanting to kiss her and Jess realizes that she would like that very much. But he doesn't remember much of that the next day, on top of which Jess falls sick. How do they both get to where they want to be with each other? [ Any reviews at all will be appreciated! ]
1. The Night

_Dear M_ _yFictionalFavourites,_

 _This is the first Secret Santa fic I'm putting out! The next chapter will be up the day after! It isn't technically midnight of 24th December like I'd initially said, but I couldn't resist! Hope you enjoy!_

 _ **Prompt: Sick Jess + First Time They Get Together**_

 _Set in Season 1_

 _The "What happened last night?" followed by a "Nothing" + secret smile kills me. I love it so much. So here's a little - well, not "little" - something based on that. I must confess I cried while writing this because I had to see the episode a few times, and I got really sad about the show ending. I sobbed at my laptop, "This show can't end!" And I've also done some dialogue-flipping from QHC. Hope you enjoy!  
_

 _Your NotSoSecretAnymore,  
_ _Santa._

* * *

 **Last Night**

* * *

 _The Night_

It had been a rough day for all of them. Jess was worried out of her mind, as well as scared, as she watched Nick, frowning into the distance. Nick was not okay, no, he _may_ not be okay. They had to wait until the next morning to make sure that everything was fine with him, but right now, he was not okay at all. She felt guilty at the role she might've played in that. She would never be able to forgive herself _if_ something was _wrong_ with him. Which she was sure wasn't.

She hoped.

They would collect the results tomorrow, and everything will be just fine. Nick will be fine. They'd have a great breakfast, laugh off all the scray thoughts in their head and go back home. Everything would go back to normal after that. As she sat on the sand next to him, she had to maintain a calm and collected demeanour, just so he wouldn't freak out as well.

"Jess?" he said quietly "I like ya a lot."

She looked at him surprised at his confession. It made her happy; was it normal to be this happy about something like that? Nick had always been closed off and from her point of view, it had always seemed so annoyed at everything she did. She couldn't remember half of the things they fought over. Why did they even fight? In hindsight, it always seemed stupid, whatever it was that they were fighting about. She would never admit it to anyone, but she secretly enjoyed riling him up and pushing all his buttons. She started to smile a little as she observed the strands of hair sticking to his forehead, and the way his shirt clung to him, dotted with speckles of sand.

"I really do. I'm glad you're around," he finished sincerely.

She felt her cheeks warm up, and she smiled shyly at him, as he chuckled. "I'm not gonna remember any of this in the morning, am I?"

"Most certainly not," she said, doing her best imitation of Daffy Duck. She felt slightly wistful at the thought of that. He really wouldn't remember this in the morning and then they'd probably go back to all the bickering they did.

"Oh no," he said with mock horror.

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"We should go home," she said softly, tucking her chin between her knees as she hugged them closer to her chest, making it clear that she didn't really have any intention of moving.

"Yes," he murmured in agreement, not moving, as he turned to look at the shimmering sea.

It was strange how it looked so still in the dark, except for the occasional sifting of the foam as it broke on to the beach. The waters were unnerving, but also had an odd sense of inconsistent rhythm that was soothing him. It felt like the other end of the chaos spectrun that he was currently muddled in.

"Let's go home."

When neither of them moved, Jess chuckled softly and scooted slightly closer to Nick. He looked over at her and gave her a small smile, inching his hand towards hers, their fingers brushing lightly They sat in silence, and Jess watched the waves as they rose and fell in the dark. The ink black water dotted with white was mesmerizing, and she felt like she could be lulled to sleep right there. As a big wave crashed, she tensed in anticipation of the cold breeze of air that would hit her, and involuntarily let out a shiver when it did. She felt Nick's arms go around her fleetingly and she tensed ever so slightly, wondering what he was doing. Realizing he had draped Winston's coat around her, she smiled at him gratefully. Her tolerance for cold was quite low; she was always the coldest among her friends.

Sensing Nick's gaze on her, turned her face to him, now laying her cheek against her knee. "What?" she asked.

Nick laughed sheepishly at being caught and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Nothing, I- I was just... thinking..."

"Oh? About what?" she asked, gently caressing his fingers that were still barely grazing hers in the sand.

He turned to look at her seriously, cocking his head as he did so. He looked a little amused and confused at the same time. And maybe slightly awestruck. "I'm drunk..." he started, slowly.

"Yes, I'm aware." Jess chuckled. "And..?"

"I want to kiss you," he said, sounding a little surprised at himself.

Jess's breath caught in her throat and she sat up straight, now staring at him wide-eyed. "You what?"

"I do," he said. "I really do want to kiss you," he repeated, sincerely.

She moved closer to him, leaning into his face slightly. His face was slightly turned towards hers as she leaned in, her lips barely an inch away from his cheek. "Then why don't you?" she whispered softly, her eyes on his as he looked down at her.

He drew back from her, not looking away from her face. Then, he shook his head at her, as if trying to shake away the thoughts swirling through his head. "Not like this," he said.

"What?" she asked, surprised. "What do you mean?"

He shook his head at her again and leaned forward to kiss her cheek, making her gasp softly as her fingers automatically found the spot where he had kissed her. "I won't remember it in the morning," he murmured, turning his gaze back to the ocean.

"I'll remind you, I promise," she whispered, worrying her lower lip, hyperaware of the warm spot on her cheek that she was still touching lightly. Then she tucked her chin between her knees again and at his face for a few moments before moving her hand to rest on top of his. "And for the record, I like you too. I really do."

He didn't look at her, but as he continued to look at the ocean, he smiled in acknowledgement of what she said, bowing his head slightly. Tonight, there was a certain softness to him that made her heart melt. There was still the edge of what was to come the next day, but he seemed oddly at ease. Admittedly, he was drunk, but the mellow warmth that he seemed to be radiating was strangely comforting.

She found herself blushing at how he had looked at her when he'd said he wanted to kiss her. And it had also taken her by surprise that she _wanted_ him to. She laughed inwardly, not oblivious to the absurdity of the situation. Who would've thought that he, Nick Miller, would want to kiss her, Jessica Day? Well, Cece seemed to have caught onto that long ago, she thought amusedly.

Her eyes flickered over to where Schmidt and Cece were sitting, talking in low voices. Jess hoped Cece was doing okay with all this, given how her father had passed away. But as she watched, she realized that Cece had a grudging, but stupid smile on her face.

 _Well, well._

Her bestfriend was in it deep, wasn't she? As she watched, Cece suddenly met her eyes over Schmidt's shoulder, and gave her a small smile. With a subtle nod, Cece raised her eyebrows towards Nick, mouthing _How is he doing?,_ to which Jess gave her a thumbs up, making sure her hand stayed at her knee's level in an attempt to be inconspicuous as she did so. Cece gave her a knowing smile, and turned back to Schmidt, feigning an expression of annoyance.

She returned her gaze to the sea and in a few moments, felt her eyes prick with sleep. She yawned slightly and tucked her forehead between her knees. She felt Nick's arm go around her shoulder and she stopped breathing. "We should really go home now," he murmured.

Turning to look at him, she gave him a smile. "No. This is nice."

After a few minutes, Jess found herself lying on the sand, curled to one side, as sleep got the better of her. Nick had started to say again that they should go home, but Jess had insisted that they stay. Falling asleep to the sound of the sea didn't seem like such a bad idea. Besides, there was something about this night that she wanted to cherish; if she had it her way, she wanted to stay awake the whole night and watch the sunrise as well. Tomorrow was filled with promises and at the thought of that, she felt worry seep into her again.

 _Nick will be just fine, right? It'ss just one of those moments that life throws your way to give you a scare of sorts. Right?_

She sighed softly as she stared at the grains of sand that were now at her eye level. The moonlight bouncing off of them made it look like she was lying in a sea of glitter. She kept reassuring herself that everything would be fine tomorrow and that once they collect the test results, Nick would find out that everything was fine, that Nick was fine. And then, things could go back to normal. Or as normal as they could be after tonight.

 _I really do want to kiss you._

She knew he probably wouldn't remember that, but she'd promised to remind him. Jessica Day took her promises very seriously (she also wanted to kiss Nick Miller, but that was a different matter altogether). As she fell closer to falling asleep, she couldn't help but worry about how she could possibly remind him without turning that into an awkward conversation.

What if it was nothing more than a fleeting attraction?

 _So what. I mean... it's not like I have a_ crush _on him or something, right?_

Yeah.

If he kissed her tomorrow, fine. Great. Good.

If he didn't... well. _Fine. Great. Good._


	2. The Next Morning

_The Next Morning_

When Nick woke up, it was nearly 10 a.m. It was one of the best sleeps he'd had in a while. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, still somewhat tired from the anxiety that had been bubbling up in him last night. The drive from the beach to the hospital to collect his results were some of the tensest minutes of his life, and the only thing that had made him feel any resemblance of calm was Jess's hand resting lightly on his arm. She'd said nothing since they'd woken up on the beach, and when he'd asked her if something had happened, she'd simply given him a small, unsure smile.

 _"Nothing,"_ she'd said as if she wasn't sharing some secret with him.

She'd been unusually quiet most of the morning and had dozed off in the car on their drive back home. Once they were upstairs, without saying much, everyone had headed to their own rooms (Cece had gone to Schmidt's) and just went back to sleep. As Nick lay awake, he could hear the faint chattering of people from the kitchen, and the sound of muffled sizzling. There was nothing unusual about those sounds, except that there wasn't the occasional singing from Jess that he would pretend annoyed him into waking up. He had no idea why he thought it necessary to do that, but he did it anyway.

Starting to feel a little hungry, he swung out of bed and dragged himself out of his bedroom to brush his teeth. He was greeted by Jess's door, closed all the way, which was odd, given how she rarely ever closed her door. Shaking his head, he started to walk towards the bathroom in a haze and brushed his teeth mechanically. Minutes later, he was sitting at the kitchen island as Schmidt cooked something up, while Cece was sipping on her coffee quietly. Winston, it would seem, had gone out for a run; the guy was resilient as hell.

Nick's eyes kept darting to Jess's bedroom door as he wondered where she was, and why she wasn't up yet. He really wanted to ask the question out loud, but that would be out of character for him, and he was in no mood to deal with all the questions that were to be shot his way when he himself wasn't too sure of the answers. He quietly took the mug of coffee that Schmidt had offered him, continuing to think about what he liked to call an "inexplicable situation". He knew of course, that the situation was possibly quite explicable, but he'd rather pretend it was complicated.

Ever since he'd caught Jess lurking outside Schmidt's door on Valentine's Day, strange sort of restlessness had filled him. He wasn't sure why he'd been angry and was even more confused as to what had possessed him to grab her by the waist and drag her away. Until then, Julia had occupied some corner of his mind, and for that, he'd been grateful. But after Julia had left, his mind had a lot of free space.

Now, his mind was filled with various images of Jess. Her standing against the morning light in a sun yellow dress, blending into the sunlight. The way her hand curled under neck when she fell asleep on movie nights. The amusement on her face while she graded papers and the occasional giggle accompanied by a gentle shaking of her head. The way she worried her lips when she was nervous or thoughtful. The way her dark hair caught the silver of the moonlight.

 _Huh, that's a new one._

He looked at Jess's door for the _n_ th time that morning, when he caught Cece's eyes over the rim of his coffee mug that he was now sipping from. She was smirking at him knowingly, and he simply frowned at her. Not taking her eyes off Nick, Cece set her coffee mug on the table and stood up. "I'm going to go check on, Jess," she announced, while Nick looked away, slightly embarassed.

Schmidt nodded as he turned around with his own plate of food. "I hope she isn't dead or something. It's nearly 10.30 a.m. and she's not even out yet."

Cece nodded and left the kitchen, disappearing into Jess's room. As soon as Cece left, Schmidt turned around to sit across Nick. "So, Nicholas."

"What?" he asked apprehensively, taking another sip of coffee.

"You and Jessica, huh?"

"What about us? There's nothing about us? What're you talking about?" he said with false incredulity.

"Oh, Nicholas, you insult me!" said Schmidt, clearly offended. Schmidt leaned across the table with a smug expression. "I've seen the way you look at her. Don't you deny it. I've known you for almost a decade now and _I know that look._ "

Nick grunted in annoyance; a classic response to when he had no comeback.

"Ha! You don't have a comeback, do you?" asked Schmidt smugly.

"Lay off ya ninny!" said Nick annoyedly and turned away.

Schmidt drew back and straightened in his seat. "Not denying anything, I see," he muttered to himself.

"Schmidt-" started Nick.

They were interrupted by a muffled thud and a very irritated voice. "Cezeee, no! _Stobbit!"_

It was Jess's voice, muffled and strained, coming from her bedroom, punctuated by grunts. Frowning, both Nick and Schmidt exchanged a look before Nick stood up and started to walk towards Jess's room. Schmidt stayed seated as he watched Nick's retreating back with a knowing smile, muttering, "...dumbest boy in school..."

Nick reached the bedroom and knocked twice in warning before opening the door. "What is-"

He stopped short when he saw Cece two feet away from the door while Jess was holding onto one of Cece's hands with both of hers, squatting on the floor and pulling back with what seemed like all her might. Neither of them had noticed Nick staring at them. Cece was looking over her shoulder at Jess and straining against her while Jess sat on the floor, almost hugging Cece's arm, eyes scrunched shut with the effort, tugging backwards.

 _"Cezee, he wanded do giss be,"_ _she had confided nervously when Cece had asked her why she was still in bed. "Bud I bed he doesn'd remember. I wish he would."_

 _"Whoa! Why do you sound like that!" Cece had asked, hurrying towards her concerned._

 _"I'mb fine!"_

 _"Yeah, sure you are. You're staying home today," said Cece firmly. "And you can sort out your... kissing scene as well," she had added with a laugh._

 _"Cezee, I'mb perfecdly fine!" Jess had said, arms crossed, muttering, "And dere's nothing to sord oud."_

 _"Sure, there isn't nothing. You obviously wish he had kissed you!" said Cece crossing her arms._

 _Jess stuck her tongue out at her and looked away._

 _"I thought so," said Cece smirking. ?I'm going to tell the guys that you're down today," she said, starting to head towards the door._

 _Jess had jumped of bed caught Cece's hand, pulling at her. Cece stronger than Jess but the fact that Jess was ill wasn't quite helping her case. So Cece had effortlessly started to head towards the door when Jess grasped her arm, almost hugging it, and sat on the floor. Knees bent, she started pulling backwards, grunting, "Cezee, no! Stobbit!"_

"Jess, don't be stupid! I have to tell them!" Cece was saying, as she pulled, her other hand straining towards the door.

Cece knew Jess was proud that she never fell ill, but there was no doubt that she was sick this morning. It was in all likelihood because they spent the night at the beach with hardly any warm clothing. Jess, contrary to her belief, wasn't that immune to the cold weather. Even when they were children, she'd always be the coldest and almost always be the first among their friends to go down with a cold if not kept warm. As much as Cece would've liked to stay and take care of her, she had to go to work; the guys were her next best hope. One guy in particular.

"I- I'm a deacher," Jess gasped. "I'm immbune to all ove this!"

"Jessica!" started Cece warningly.

"Cezelia!" said Jess, imitating the same tone.

Nick cleared his throat to draw their attention to him, and both their eyes darted to him, startled. Cece stopped pulling, sending Jess tumbling onto her back with the softest of grunts.

"Oh, Nick! Good, you're here!" said Cece happily, ignoring the death glare Jess was shooting her way from the floor.

"Um, what is happening?" asked Nick, looking back and forth at them, watching Jess straighten up slowly against the bed.

"Jess is sick," said Cece.

" _Ambnot!"_ said Jess, crossing her arms defiantly, as Cece continued.

"She definitely caught a cold last night, and I suspect she's on her way to a fever as well."

Jess then looked at Nick defiantly. "Nig, I'mb nod sig!"

"It's _Nick,"_ he corrected her, with an amused smile.

"'S wad I said," she grumbled, as Nick took in her bedraggled hair and pallid face. Her eyes were sunken in, with a slightly moist look to them like she was about to cry, and looking like they were two steps away from being bloodshot. He thought he could see her shivering slightly. And there was also, of course, the most important giveaway - her cold-induced accent. Shaking his head at her grumbling, he turned to look at Cece.

"Yep, she's definitely ill, alright," he agreed.

Both of them ignored her outraged grunt, while Cece continued. "Yeah. The thing is I'm already late for work. Someone needs to take care of her."

"I'll do it," Nick offered, knowing Schmidt would immediately back out, possibly even suggest quarantine, and Winston, well... _Who knew?_

He, for one, wasn't about to ask anyone else. He didn't want to bother the others (which is what he told himself) and would rather take care of her by himself. The fact was that he could be a good caretaker, especially if it was someone he cared about. And he did care about Jess, obviously. She was almost the mother hen of the group, and when she was down; it made him quite uncomfortable. In a platonic way... Well, _semi-_ platonic way, of course.

Cece looked over her shoulder at Jess and gave her a small smirk before turning back to Nick. "Great! I knew I could count on you," she said, giving Nick a pat on the shoulder.

"Y-Yeah," said Nick. "Because all of you have work to do and I only have to go in the evening. You'll be back by then and-"

"Of course, of course," she said, patting his shoulder assuringly and muttering under her breath, "That's exactly why."

Over Cece's shoulder, Nick saw Jess jump to her feet and stumble towards them angrily. "I'mb nod sig you guys! Id's nod a big deal! My immbune sysdem is perfecdly cabable of-"

" _Do you even hear yourself, Jessica!"_ exclaimed Nick.

" _Id's jusda gold! No biggie!"_ she said, indignantly."Now iv you'll exguse me, I have a glass to ged do."

"I doubt those kids will understand you," muttered Cece, trying to block Jess as she started to push past them to get outside.

Later, Nick would wonder what came over him as he did what did next. Sighing, he threw one arm around her waist and the other behind her knees, picking her up in one fluid motion. She squeaked in surprise and stopped flailing, stunned with disbelief. Cece gaped at them with a mixture of amusement and awe, as Jess's hands automatically went around his neck while she stared at his face.

"Yeah, you take her to bed, Miller," she murmured, probably a little too loudly because Jess's eyes grew wide in horror as she stared at Cece over Nick's shoulder.

Jess was freaking out. She was half afraid Nick would hear her heart trying to escape her chest. She knew exactly what Cece was upto, but she herself wasn't ready for this. This was one of those times where she _needed_ to get inside her own head a little and figure things out. It'd be pretty hard to do with this sudden gentlemanly behaviour on his part and being unsually nice to her _even while sober._

Nick didn't react to Cece's words though, either not having heard her, or choosing to just ignore her. He lay the dumbstruck woman onto her bed gently, saying, "You need rest, Jess."

Cece hurried over to the bed and started to tightly tuck the blanket around Jess as Jess struggled against it. Nick sat down next to Jess and put a hand on her forehead and then pressed the back of his hand against her cheek. Then he shook his head and looked at Cece. "She's got a fever alright."

"That's nod ad all sciendific!" exclaimed Jess. "Ged a thermomeder!"

"I've taken care of my little brother enough to know what a fever feels like, Jessica!" said Nick, rolling his eyes.

Jess grimaced, but said nothing. She stopped struggling as well, accepting the fact that she was well and truly beaten by the two annoying people who were now victoriously towering over her.

And then she looked at Cece, standing behind Nick with a smug face. God, she wanted to punch that smile off her bestfriend's face. She should've known it would be a mistake to tell her that Nick had wanted to kiss her last night. In fact, she should've left it at that. But no, she had to confess to Cece that she'd wanted to kiss him too. And now, she would probably be alone with Nick almost the whole day, hoping that she didn't make a fool of herself.

How was she supposed to ponder over whether or not to remind him of last night when he was actually around her all day! _With that stupidly soft look in his eyes!_

"Well, looks like that's settled," said Cece. "I'll leave her to you then, Nick."

"Yes, ma'am," said Nick, standing up and turning to Cece.

"I'll be back by evening," she told Nick.

Then, Cece smiled at Jess before walking to her and leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead.

"It's for your own good, babe," she said.

"I hade you," said Jess crossly.

Laughing merrily, Cece walked out of the room, leaving the two of them in her room. Few minutes later, they were left alone in the loft. Both were oblivious to Cece reprimanding Schmidt for being worried about "germs" when there were other, more important things that he was likely unaware of that needed their attention.

"If you're referring to the stench of lust in the loft, I'm well aware, Cecelia," he muttered, as he closed the door behind him and Cece. "I _live_ here and I do have eyes."

* * *

 **A/N: Next chapter - Nick taking care of Jess while she's ill, and *wink*wink***


	3. The Next Afternoon

**A/N: Wow. This worked out to be a much MUCH longer chapter than I'd thought, and the fic is _still_ not completed. Why am I like this...**

* * *

 _The Next Afternoon_

After Cece left, Jess watched as Nick turn to her and gave her a small smile. From the mild pulling under her eyes, she could tell that she did indeed have a fever. It was mild enough to not completely incapacitate her, but it was there. Nick was right after all. She wouldn't admit it, but she was glad to be able to stay at home. She'd woken up feeling sore, with a blocked nose. After struggling to breathe for a few seconds, her head had started to hurt. As she'd lain in her bed, she was contemplating whether or not she should go to school, but had decided that working would probably make her feel better. Besides, she wouldn't've been able to stop thinking about last night if she was idle. But here she was, tightly tucked into bed as Nick sat next to her, grinning.

"You should get some rest," he said, standing up. "I'll wake you around lunchtime with food."

"Do I hab a choize?" asked Jess, quirking a brow.

Grinning, he made sure she was tucked in tightly. "Not really."

Jess squirmed under the tightly tucked blanket with a grimace. "Ugh, you wrabbed me ub good."

"Sure did," he said, ruffling her hair as he started to leave. Before closing the door behind him, he turned to her. "Holler if you need anything. I'm right here."

Unable to help the smile at the genuine affection in his voice, she gave him a small smile. "Thangs, Nig."

"Anytime," he grinned. "And Jess?"

"Hm?"

"It's _Nick_ ," he laughed, before closing the door behind him as Jess tried to yell, " _Thad's wad I said_!"

...

 _Chicken soup?_ _Noodles? She loved noodles_.

Finally decided on chicken noodle soup, Nick stood in the kitchen and browsed the cabinets and the fridge to check whether everything he needed to make that was at home..It had been a while since he'd cooked something; he doubted Schmidt or Winston even remembered that he could cook. Nick got to work, and leaving the chicken to thaw, he pulled out the required vegetables from the fridge to cut them. After struggling for a few seconds, he felt like he was back in his groove, and was almost on auto-mode as he moved around the kitchen to prepare some food for her.

Almost an hour later, he was garnishing the noodle soup with familiarity. Satisfied with how it looked, he set it on the table and took some out in a bowl. Placing the bowl on a breakfast tray alongside a spoon and a fork, he started to walk towards Jess's room. On his way, he paused to grab an empty beer bottle and plucked a flower out of a vase behind the sofa to put it in the beer bottle. He walked towards her room and gently nudged the door open with his knee. Placing the tray on her desk, he slowly walked to her sleeping form. She was lying on her side, facing the window, both her hands tucked under her cheek.

He lay a hand on her upper arm and squeezed gently. "Hey, Jess?"

She grunted slightly and snuggled further into the pillow. He massaged her arm gently before tugging it slightly. "Jessica?"

Still no response.

Next he sat on the bed, leaning slightly into her back. Leaning forward her pat her face gently and she finally stirred. "Nig?"

"Good afternoon, Sleepy Head. I made you lunch."

He smiled as he watched her eyes flutter open, giving way to dazed blue eyes. This was the second time he was watching her wake, the first being this morning. It made him feel special, for some odd reason, to be able to watch her wake up. The way her eyes seemed a little lost for the first few seconds and the lazy smile that formed on her lips as everything came into focus around her, was like watching a flower unfold.

 _Wow. That was so freakin' cheesy, Miller._

He let out an amused laugh at his thoughts, glad that no one could actually hear them.

"Wad?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

"Nothing," he said, smiling a little. "You were snoring in your sleep."

"I was nod!" Jess scoffed, trying to sit up properly.

Laughing, Nick stood up and leaned in to rearrange the multitudes of cushions behind her. He observed that she'd tensed slightly as his hand went behind her, grazing the small of her back slightly as he tried to arrange the pillows comfortably. When he started to draw back, his breath caught in his throat as he realized that their faces were inches away from each other, his hovering slightly above hers. His hand was now brushing against her hip, frozen midway as he was straightening. Her face was turned slightly and she was staring straight up at him, wide-eyed. As he held on to her gaze, he observed the tint of pink that was creeping into her cheeks and his eyes flickered down to her lips. Then, she sniffled slightly, and he remembered why he was standing there in the first place, unaware that he'd even forgotten that. He looked away and cleared his throat, straightening and taking a small step back.

As he nervously rubbed his neck and turned around, Jess stared at his retreating back as he walked towards her desk. Her heart was beating madly from when he'd been so close to her. She wondered if she'd imagined his eyes go to her lips because she was sure hers had. There was just something about that softness he seemed to be looking at her with these days that just turned her to putty around him. She gave him a small smile as he turned around with a tray in his hand. Her eyes went to the flower in the beer bottle and she smiled harder.

 _A flower in a beer bottle._ There was something so... _Nick_ about it.

The steam rising from the bowl was already starting to warm her with anticipation, though she wasn't really very hungry. He set the tray in her lap and watched as her eyes curiously peered into the bowl. Then, she was looking at him surprised. "Wow. Chiggen noodle soub! It smells amazing, Nig!"

"I take offence at your surprise, Jessica!" said Nick, feigning hurt, but watching eagerly as she took her first.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she chewed. "Mmmm... _Mmmmm._ "

Sighing softly, she said, "Nig, this is amazing!"

"I-It's nothing, I used to make it for Jamie when he was sick all the time!" he said sheepishly. "The pepper and the ginger should help with the cold and-"

She punched his arm lightly. "Jus shuddup and tage a complimend, Miller!"

"Alright, alright," he said, holding his hands up. "I... Thank you, Jess. I'm glad you liked it!"

"That's bedder," she grinned, and then looked at him seriously. "And thang you for doing this. I know you didn'd have do."

He simply smiled at her and pat her knee. "Anything for you, Jess."

She let out a surprised chuckle at his confession, feeling the sudden urge to giggle. But she swallowed her giggle and frowned at him instead. "Why aren'd you eading?"

"Oh! Oh, right. I forgot to get myself a bowl," he admitted sheepishly. "Hold on, I'll be right back," he said, jumping to his feet.

"Wait, Nig! I'll gum wid you," she said, starting to carefully set aside the breakfast table.

"What, Jess, no!" said Nick, turning to her. "I'll get my-"

"No, I meand I'll gum wid you and we gan _both_ ead oud there," she said, gesturing to her door.

Nick frowned and was about to refuse allowing her to move out of her bed, but she continued to plead. "Pleaz, Nig. I'm sig ov my room. Jusd a leedle change in surroundings and sduff lyge thad."

Sighing, Nick nodded once and picked the breakfast tray of her lap. She swung out of the bed, slightly unstable on her legs as she came to her feet. Nick then set the tray on the desk and picked up just the bowl. Holding that with one hand, he put a hand around Jess's waist to steady her.

"Nig, I don'd need-"

"Shut up, Jessica!" he admonished her, making her fall silent as she put one hand around his back, the other clutching the one that was snaking around her back and resting on her hip.

Quietly and slowly, the two of them made their way out of Jess's room. They were both only quiet of course, because the proximity had deprived them of articulation of any sort. Both were praying that the other wouldn't hear the frantic beating of their hearts. When they reached the living room, Jess chuckled.

"Hey, Nig?"

"Hm?" he answered dazedly.

"Led's ead on the couch."

"But Schmidt-"

"Is nod home," she said, wiggling her brows.

Laughing, Nick agreed and walked her to the couch. Setting the bowl on the coffee table, his hand left her waist to hold her hand steady as she started to sit down. Once she sat down, he bolted to her bedroom and returned with an armful of cushions and a blanket, much to her surprise. She looked at him in awe and robotically leaned forward slightly to give him room to put the cushions behind her, and then threw covered her with a blanket before handing the soup bowl to her.

"You comfy?" he asked, looking at her questioningly.

Jess simply nodded, setting the bowl on the top of her knees that she had pulled to her chest. Staring at him as he fiddled with the cushions behind her, she felt another surge of warmth rush through her. She was sure that wasn't her fever spiking, of course. Giving her a smile, he straightened up and caught her staring.

"What?"

"Nothing," she laughed. "Id's jusd that... you're such a daddy!"

His eyebrows shot up in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Oh! Oh god, no!" she squeaked, flushing with embarrassment. She gestured to the soup and the cushions he'd arranged behind her. "I-I meand like... dad. You're such a dad!"

She covered her face, shaking her head and feeling slightly horrified.

Taking in her flushed cheeks and wide eyes that were now peeking from behind her fingers, Nick laughed a little explosively. She lowered her hands and grinned at him sheepishly, slumping into the couch. Still laughing, he walked towards the kitchen to get his own bowl of soup.

 _What an afternoon._

She turned on the TV and was eating her soup, relieved at the way the fiery pepper was scorching her sore throat. As she surfed different channels, she looked sideways at Nick, who was now coming back with his own bowl.

 _The man knows his stuff._

He sat next to her, bowl in his lap and propped his feet up on the table, leaving one inch between the two of them. Jess could see it from her peripheral vision and that tiny gap started to drive her nuts. Fixing her eyes on the TV, Jess worried her lower lip and closed the gap between them, trying to be inconspicuous. Once the gap was closed, she nestled further into him, reasoning that the blanket covering her provided enough of a barrier between them. She kept her eyes on the TV, not really _watching_ , wondering if Nick had noticed what she'd done. She was torn between hoping he had and hoping he hadn't; because maybe if he had, it'll be the encouragement he needed to kiss her. Not right now, of course, when she was all snotty.

Nick was, of course, well aware of the lack of distance between them, but much like Jess's seemingly flawless logic, he thought the blanket was good enough to keep both of them in safe, platonic zone. Feeling slightly encouraged by what she'd done, he lifted his arm and put it around her shoulder, eyes not leaving the TV screen. He wasn't even watching whatever was on, to be honest. He was waiting with bated breath to see how Jess would react, and only felt himself relax when she leaned into his arm. Smiling slightly, he started to focus on what was playing.

"So um, what are we watching?" he asked her, taking a bite of the soup. He had only just realized that eating using just one hand while his bowl was precariously placed on his lap was probably a bad idea, but now, he didn't want to draw his arm back.

Jess giggled nervously. "I- I don'd know."

He turned to look at her with a small frown. "Then why is it... on?"

"I don'd know," she repeated, with another sheepish smile.

Snickering, Nick took the remote from her hand before she could protest and started to surf the channels. Snorting once, Jess went back to eating her soup, feeling pleasantly happy at the entire situation. As she watched the channels change, at one point, she noticed a familiar face and squeaked in delight. "Oh! Nig, led's watch this movie, pleaz? Id's quite good!"

Nick frowned at the screen. It looked like it was set on a beach, where a couple of people were lying down. Nick had a feeling he'd seen on of the actresses on TV or in some other movie before, but he couldn't quite place it.

 _"Last night was fun!"_ she was saying, a coy smile on her face.

A blond guy with a ridiculous tan in shorts and plaid shook her hand. " _Best first date of my life."_

 _"It was not a date!"_ the brunette warned.

The blond looked at her smugly, smiling a little. _"Or we could make it one."_

 _Wow, man. Real smooth._

And it took Nick a few moments to realize that the brunette was some singer that his niece had been obsessed with a few years ago. If he remembered correctly, she'd been blonde then and had straighter hair. Or did she look the same? Eh, whatever. As he watched the two characters flirt and grinning at each other, Nick groaned. "God, Jessica, is this another one of those mushy love stories!"

"Id's based on a novel by Nigolas Spargs!" said Jess, nodding enthusiastically. "And whad makes it bedder is that the leads are dating in real life as well," she giggled.

Nick rolled his eyes but complied anyway. He recognised the author's name from the bookshelves in the store; all the covers were soft, pastel colours and had people that were so obviously in love, on them. He wasn't really the type who enjoyed such books, or movies, for that matter. But today, he'd have to make do. Jess was sick and he didn't want to argue with her. He shot her another glance sideways, smiling a little at the sight of her absent-mindedly eating the soup while staring wide-eyed at the TV.

They both watched the movie for a little while, stealing glances at each other every once in a while as they ate their soup.

There had been moments last couple of weeks, that he would often be possessed with a crazy desire to kiss her. When they were bickering, he would picture cutting her off mid-sentence by kissing her senseless. But there were some moments... when she would be singing around in the kitchen on a weekend, whipping up some elaborate breakfast for everyone or when she was trying her best to cheer him or talk him out of one of his "lows". Those were the moments he'd want to plant a chaste, innocent kiss on her lips; a way of thanking her for just _being_ there for him.

This was one of those moments.

At some point, Jess had fallen asleep against him, head resting on his chest. Nick had removed the bowl from her lap and placed it on the coffee table. As he watched sleep, hand curled under her neck, he couldn't resist reaching over and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Her lips were slightly parted and he could feel the warm breath tickling him.

Nick shook his head, slightly annoyed now. It was odd having such insanely cheesy thoughts about his roommate. He wondered if he'd crossed from the 'romantic mush' to 'plain creepy' zone. He valued her presence a lot, and thoughts of kissing her would only drive her away. This is not healthy. He shook his head as if shaking things up a little like that would just make those thoughts slip away. He turned his attention to the television, trying to focus on the movie.

Ronnie and Will seemed to be fighting about something on the beach. She was yelling at him and suddenly, Will cut her off mid-sentence. With a kiss.

 _Good going, Will. That's my idea too._

Nick mused at how no matter how much he tried to avoid the "inexplicable situation", the universe seemed to have other plans. As he watched, the scene panned further to show the setting sun behind them, as they kissed on the beach.

 _Not bad. The beach is a great place to kiss._

With that, he remembered how he'd wanted to kiss her last night as she'd sat next to him, looking at him fondly. He realized that it was from last night on the beach that the picture of Jess gazing at him in the moonlight, hair lit up in silver, kept making repeated appearances in his mind. The more he thought about it, the clearer the details of the picture became; her eyes were darker than usual, _they'd been holding hands in the sand_ , she'd been sitting quite, _quite_ close to him.

 _"Hey Jess? I like ya a lot. I really do, I'm glad you're around."_

He couldn't believe he'd said something like that to her. No doubt, she would've been more than happy, because she probably didn't know what kind of "like" he was talking about exactly. Otherwise there was no way in hell she would've let Cece leave her alone with him. Well, she _had_ protested a little bit, but she seemed perfectly fine with him after that. So okay, maybe she didn't know.

 _"I want to kiss you."_

He tensed in the couch. Had he really said _that_ too!? Was it just his own voice in his head, or had he actually said that out loud?! There was no way he could've said that out loud, given how _normal_ Jess was behaving with him.

 _Right?_

 _Unless..._

Nick sighed. This was going to haunt him forever if he didn't talk to her about it, but what was he even supposed to say. Looking at her sleeping form again, he sank into the couch, laying his head on the couch's back. He stared at the ceiling thoughtfully, and as he wondered how he could possibly find out exactly what had happened without giving away too much himself, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: I know. I said this'll have three chapters only. But guess who was wrong? Me. I overestimate myself, smh.**

 **Next chapter - _'Next Evening'_ , obviously.**


	4. The Next Evening

_The Next Evening_

Jess stirred awake with a small grunt. She could feel her lower back hurting a little, and tried to straighter herself when she realized where she was. She could see her hand slung over someone's (she knew exactly who) waist and she could feel the certain someone's chin poking the top of her head. Her feet were curled up against him, knees slightly brushing his thighs. She tried to move a little when she felt his hand grazing her waist; it had gone behind her and was holding her to his side.

 _Holy fudgsicles._

His even breathing, which she could _feel_ , told her that he was still asleep. She stayed very still in the position, breathing slowly, trying to compose herself. Her heart was running a mile a minute and she could feel her cheeks starting warm. She didn't think she'd ever been this close to him before, physically. As she saw the evening light filter into the loft, it felt extremely intimate, being nestled into his side, head on his chest, while sitting on the couch. She found herself smiling slightly, despite the alarm bells going off in her head. She snuggled slightly further into him and closed her eyes, not really drifting off to sleep. She didn't want to break what felt like a rare spell being cast on both of them.

Nick didn't stir when the door clicked open either, but Jess stayed where she was, unsure if she should move. If she did, Nick would wake up; not that there was anything wrong with that, but it would be weird if they both woke up with some of their friends peering over them. Right? Probably. So she did what was best; pretended to be asleep. She heard soft footsteps and the clink of keys in the key bowl. The footsteps approached the couch and she heard a gentle, breathy laugh.

"Aw, look at these two," whispered Cece.

Schmidt grunted in response. "As long as the-"

"I swear if you say "loft dynamic" once more, no sex for a week," Cece hissed.

"Cece!" exclaimed Schmidt in a whisper, genuinely horrified at the idea.

 _Cece and Schmidt were sleeping together!? What! HOW? When had that happened?!_

 _"_ Do you think that they... you know?" whispered Schmidt suggestively.

"They will, babe, they will," she said. Jess could hear the smile in her voice.

" _Babe?!"_ The delight was obvious.

"Shut up, it was a slip of tongue!"

"Of course it was, _babe_ ," said Schmidt and Jess could hear footsteps fading in the direction of his bedroom.

"Your feet are twitching," whispered Cece, her voice close to her ear now, making Jess's eyes fly open. "I know you're awake, Jess," she laughed.

Jess turned her head slightly, looking sheepish, to find Cece's face peeping out from behind the back of the couch, eyes levelled with hers. She recognised that mischievous glint in Cece's eyes.

"Enjoying the moment, I see," smirked Cece.

"You're enjoying Schmidt, I hear," said Jess, quirking an eyebrow. "Why didn't you tell me!"

"I don't know, really," Cece shrugged, flushing a warm pink. "Let's not talk about that, please. Your voice seems to have-"

Jess's mouth dropped, as it clicked. " _You like him!_ You _like_ Schmidt! _Cece!"_ squeaked Jess.

"Shush," snapped Cece, eyes darting towards Schmidt's room. "If you say anything I will tell him too," she jerked her head in Nick's direction, still fast asleep.

Jess scrunched her nose but knew the warmth in her cheeks were giving her away. "There's nothing to tell."

Cece narrowed her eyes and stood up. Patting Jess's hair, she started to walk towards Schmidt's room. "Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, hon."

Jess stuck out her tongue at Cece's back, and then looked at Nick. He had been so gentle with her that it was astounding. She knew she hadn't imagined the tenderness in his eyes from last night. She could still see it and it made her heart feel warm and tingly all over when she thought about how he had taken care of her. She could get used to that. The last time she'd been sick, it was when she'd been with Spencer. He'd called Cece home and stayed out the whole day. It still made her heart hurt sometimes, thinking about all the time she'd given that man and all of the reckless plans for the future she'd made with him. Without realizing it, she hugged Nick tighter, staring into the distance. She wished Nick would be that way more often around her, instead of all the time they spent bickering. She did, of course, enjoy the bickering to some extent, but when he was this way, it made her weak in the knees. She knew he didn't _have_ to take care of her, but he did. She was very tempted to plant a kiss on his chin.

 _Oh, Jessica Day. There's_ something _to tell after all, isn't there?_

That wasn't really surprising, actually. She _had_ wanted to kiss him last night. And so had he, she reasoned. Lost in thought, she didn't feel Nick stirring or him tensing momentarily.

"Hey," he said, voice raspy with sleep, as he brought a hand to rub his eyes.

"Oh, hey, Nick!" she said slowly, deciding to just pretend she'd just woken up and started to straighten on the couch.

"Ha, you can say my name right again," he chuckled.

Jess frowned. "What're you-"

"How're you feeling?" he asked, touching her forehead with the back of his hand.

"I think I'm good," said Jess, staring at him.

 _This is stupid._

He still looked slightly disoriented from the sleep, eyes still unfocused. But when he looked at her, the warmth in his eyes made her lips part slightly. His hand had now dropped to her cheek and he was staring at her. He swallowed slightly, and his eyes darted to her lips for a fleeting moment and Jess wanted to kiss him. She wanted to take his face between her hands and plant a kiss on his lips.

 _Oh boy._

She let out an incredulous chuckle, making Nick withdraw in surprise. "What's so funny?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

 _Oh nothing, I was just thinking about how much I wanted to kiss you._

She shook her head, not knowing what to say but wondered if that would be such a wrong thing to say after all. He did confess last night that he'd wanted to kiss her. Maybe she should do it too. Nick looked at her funnily before standing up to stretch.

"Alright, let's make you some dinner," he said, starting to head towards the kitchen.

Jess sprang to her feet and caught his arm. "Uh, not that's alright, Nick. You don't have to-"

Nick smiled a little and pat her hand assuringly. "I want to."

"I'm alright now, Nick. We'll just get something from outside," she said, crossing her arms.

"Jess, you've just been ill. It's better if I just make you dinner for tonight!" he said insistently, walking over to the kitchen.

She followed him, persistent. If he continued behaving this way she was going to fall for him and fall for him _hard._ She already knew that she was _feeling_ something for him. Feelings that were more than what a friend was supposed to feel like.

"Nick, I'm serious," she said hurrying after him. "I feel great now. You don't have to be so nice to me anymore."

He turned around when he reached the kitchen table and leaned against it, eyes narrowed and arms crossed. "I wasn't being nice because you were sick."

"Yeah?" she asked stubbornly.

She wasn't hundred percent sure what she was trying to achieve by taking the conversation in this direction. She knew it wasn't just because she'd been sick. He'd made it quite clear that he liked her and that he was glad she was around. But the _feelings_ she'd been having, she wasn't sure how to handle that. Granted, he'd wanted to kiss her. But you could feel like kissing anyone, right? She'd definitely kiss Liam Hemsworth; but would she want more from him? What if he just wanted to kiss her and nothing more?

 _Ugh, dumb Nick had to get drunk and tell me that. Why couldn't he just tell me when he's sober!?_

"Well, _yeah!"_ replied Nick incredulously. "You know me better than that!"

She did.

"Nick, it isn't like you've exactly been _nice_ to me otherwise, you know?" she said slowly, gulping at the anger she could see on his face.

"Oh, Jesus," said Nick, shaking his head. "I _told_ you last night that I liked you, Jess! I really do!" he said insistently.

Jess's mouth dropped open in shock. "You remember?"

"Yeah," said Nick, slowly. "Sort of."

She stepped a little closer to him, worrying her lip. "Um, what else do you remember?"

Nick stared at her, unsure how to answer that. He wasn't _sure_ if he'd _said_ anything. "Is there... er, more?"

"You tell me," she said, staring at him imploringly.

"I was the drunk one, so _you_ should tell me," he said softly, straightening to stand straight now. He'd stuffed his hands in his pocket, starting to feel nervous. He resolved never to ever drink that much again; he'd forgotten what it felt like to forget what he'd said or done.

She nodded once, her mind racing with thoughts. Was this it? Maybe she should just tell him.

 _Or I could just shrug, laugh and say I was messing around and stare at him while he makes me dinner._

"You'd said you wanted to kiss me," she said evenly, staring at him as his eyes grew wide in surprise.

In that moment, she was sure he was going to deny having said that. She could almost hear his thoughts racing as he stared at her face, eyes flickering over to her lips frequently, lingering longer.

"And what did _you_ say to that?" he said, almost a whisper.

She smiled a little. "I said that I wanted you to."

Nick frowned, looking at her in disbelief. "Yeah, right. I'm sure I would've kissed you the minute you'd said it was okay to. Wouldn't have waited _at all,_ " he said, laughing nervously.

Tilting her head slightly, she looked at him with amusement. "You said you wanted to remember it."

Nick turned a furious shade of red. He couldn't believe he'd said that. What a cheesy and stupid thing to say! Although, it did sound like something he would say. He'd been wanting to kiss her for so long now that if he had, he'd rather have done it sober than drunk; he'd definitely want to remember the taste of her lips and what it felt like to kiss her. He scrunched his eyes shut and shook his head at the spiralling thoughts. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and when he opened his eyes, Jess was a lot closer than she'd been.

Jess wasn't sure what had come over her. It made her feel slightly confident to see him so flustered. She thought it was so because she interpreted his nervousness as a sign that it would mean something to him. Just like it would to her, and she didn't feel like she'd be left vulnerable and hanging. She stepped closer to him, hardly an inch gap between them. Nick's hands fell to his side as Jess stepped in front of him and placed her hands on his chest, looking up at him. He had an anticipatory look in his eyes, and the way he was looking her was making her nervous again. She could feel his hands skimming her sides, and her hands slid upwards and planted themselves on his shoulders.

"I promised I'd remind you," she said quietly.

"Consider me reminded," he said, locking his hands behind her waist and pulling her closer, watching her quietly. Despite the confidence, he could see that she was nervous. Heck, he was too. This would be a big step, if they went through with it. So much would change and there would be potentially so much that could be damaged. But there was all the possibility of things changing for the better. Because frankly, when did something to do with Jessica Day ever change things for the worse.

She stared at him for a few seconds, before frowning in confusion. "Nick?"

"Hm?"

"I've reminded you, just now," she said slowly.

"That you did," he agreed.

"Then why, for fudge's sake, aren't you kissing me yet?" she growled.

"I don't know, I was just-"

"Oh, shut up, Miller," said Jess, cutting him off. She craned her neck to catch his lips as her hands cupped his face to pull him down to her. Chuckling against her lips, Nick pulled her closer to him and kissed her in every way he'd imagined. Her hands went to the spot where his hairline ended on his neck, where she pulled at him harder. He bit her lower lip gently, as she traced the inside of his mouth with her tongue. Frankly, his imagination had nothing on what he was experiencing at that moment. It was like this was the kiss he didn't know he was waiting for all his life. Their lips met perfectly and their tongues danced with a newfound rhythm that'd make you think they'd been doing this forever.

It was a damned fairytale.


End file.
